Water Under a Bridge || BkDk || MHA

(Chapter 3) The calm before the storm

**Bakugo's POV**

The last few days have been extremely stressful after finding out who the traitor was. Everyone has been so busy that Izuku and I haven't been able to have a conversation since he slept in my room.

It was strange how much that irritated me. I still saw him every day, and we trained a lot together, but there was always this tension between us. Every time I saw him, I felt like I needed to talk to him, but I didn't know what to say.

In all the chaos, our regular classes were used to strategize the second battle against All for One.

I was currently at my desk, scribbling out the battlefield so I could plan my attacks. The sweat on my hands, from my quirk, was causing the ink to smudge, which sent me over the edge.

"Stupid ass ink!" I shouted, crumpling the paper into a ball and hurling it across the classroom with an explosion.

A few extras glanced my way, but most of them kept working out a plan. Everyone was stressed, even if it didn't look like it at first.

That half n half bastard always looked stupidly aloof, but even he was tapping his foot nervously and biting the end of his pen.

The stress of the whole situation made me feel tense constantly, so I was having more outbursts than I would like to. Ever since I apologized to Izuku, I had been trying to rein in my anger, but it seemed useless. There were just so many little things that were so bloody annoying.

I hated the fact that my hands were constantly sweaty, which ruined any papers I touched. I hated not feeling prepared for our battle that was only a few hours away, and most of all, I hated not being competent enough. If I couldn't protect people, then what purpose did I serve?

Scowling, I pushed my desk out of my way, with a screech, and headed to the bathroom.

I would never admit it, but the battle had me worried, especially for Izuku.

The plan that all the heroes came up with put Izuku to fight against Shigaraki, with the rest of us supporting. I thought the plan was moronic. How could we put the weight of the entire world on a single high schooler!?

I shoved open the bathroom doors and saw Izuku washing his hands. He lifted his head to look at me.

"Hi, Kacchan." Izuku gave me a small strained smile.

He must be worried too; he wasn't as annoyingly upbeat as he usually was.

"I don't like it," I stated, crossing my arms.

Izuku dried his hands and looked back at me, confused. "Like what?"

"There are so many grown adults who should be doing what you have to do. Why should you have to carry that responsibility?!" I crossed the distance between us in a few strides, and we were no more than a foot apart.

"Kacchan," he started, "I have to do this. If you had One for All, you would do the same." He clenched his hand into a fist. "The world is in chaos right now, so we have to be the ones to save it!" Izuku's eyes sparkled the way they did when he talked about heroes. "I'm not alone. If you're so worried about me, then protect me!"

My mouth formed into a smirk. This is the part of Izuku I liked, even though I used to hate it: the feisty, competitive, stubborn nerd that made sure I stayed on top of my game.

"Don't forget that I'm going to be the number one hero, okay!" I shouted at Izuku competitively.

"Mhm!" He nodded his head fiercely, smiling, as he left the bathroom.

My heart felt a little lighter. Izuku wasn't a little baby anymore. Come to think of it, Izuku was never a little baby. He always put his friends first and tried to help people even when he wasn't strong enough to do so. Izuku was a natural hero. He wasn't just going to take a beating from Shigaraki; he was going to give him the ass whooping of his lifetime.